Friday 18 December 2020

25 More Elle Expressions - Day 18

 Elle is Panicked


Disaster had struck! Elle was approached in her office by bodyguards and the police were out on the hunt for a rogue criminal. Coalsach prison is the only prison in the North Pole region, due to the generally decent behavior of the industrial elf's culture. The North Pole was not without it's bad apples, who were rarely in Coalsach for more than half a year. One of Santa's former employees however, had been guilty of theft, attempted murder and blackmailing; all of these were on separate occasions!

The criminal's name was Elias and he had broken out of Coalsach. It was no secret that Elias had friends from the criminal underworld, as he had obtained the means to send Santa a bomb after his first arrest. A warning had been left embedded into Elias' cell well that read:

'I won't be back alone Santa"

Eldon and Avery had been removed by the police under a witness protection program. Elle wanted to join them but with no idea how long things would be in place, she was needed at the workshop. Security was tighter than ever before and Elle never left the workshop! All the while, the police still couldn't track down Elias, the elves were getting agitated with the changes to their work life and Elle's stress levels were through the roof!

"I can't do this anymore!" Elle declared to her personal assistant. "We need to find Elias and fast!" Elle turned to her computer and started tapping away on the search engine.

"How do you intend to do that?" Elle's personal assistant asked calmly. "You're confined to the workshops and the police are already looking for him."

"Well maybe we need someone special for a special case." Elle thought hastily as she clicked on a result. What she got was the phone number for a private detective. Elle picked up her phone and dialed the number. After receiving a response, Elle was quick to reply. "Hello, I was wondering if you could help me find a missing person?"

"Alright, we're going to need some details. Name, features, a photo, you'll have to come into our office to apply for our services."

"I can't come in, I'm office bound! I'm a prisoner in my own workplace and need help finding this missing person so I can live a normal life again!" After a moment's silence, the voice on the other end of the line responded.

"I understand, Santa. Will be right there."

"How did he know?" Elle pondered as the call ended.

Sure enough, within the next couple of hours, a visitor came to speak with Elle. Elle found herself quite intimidated by the look of her detective but with a name like Krampus Hornsby what was one to expect? Elves quivered as they watched Elle escort Krampus to her office, some of the newer staff even thought that Krampus was Elias, the rogue elf!

 Krampus sat in a chair as Elle hastily gathered evidence from around her office that would identify Elias.

"He used to wear this really crooked hat, he's got a sharp tooth on the right of his mouth, or was it the left? He sneaks about, kind of has a hunched back, pointed fingers, really pointed fingers! You've never seen such sharp-"

"Okay, okay!" Krampus grumbled. "You're panicking, Santa. You might want to sit down and take a few deep breaths." Elle listened to Krampus and sat at her office chair. She tried two deep breaths, and began to feel herself calming down as Krampus continued to inquire. "Right let's look at the facts. You know the man we're after, the police know the man we're after. They were last seen heading west according to reports on the search. Might there be anything else you know about him? Anything, could be the most trivial information."

"Not really, I never got to know him that well before he got the sack."

"Why was he fired?"

"He'd been stealing toys from the workshop for the naughty children. And then after that someone sends a bomb on his behalf to Santa before me."

"So has anyone thought to find these contacts? If Elias promises to be back with company, maybe he's gone to get some help from one of his contacts."

"I'm afraid I wouldn't know where to start." Elle sighed weakly.

"That's where I come in." Krampus stood from the chair, placing a picture of Elias in the pocket of his case. "Well I'll do the best I can to find out where he's gone to. I'll be in touch regarding the payment details."

"Thank you, you don't know how much I appreciate it!" Elle got up from her desk to see Krampus out.

A week passed before Elle heard from Krampus again with progress on the case. About four days after that, Krampus had news of Elias' whereabouts! A couple of days after that, Elias had been found and arrested thanks to Krampus and some assistance from the police. While all of the contacts Elle knew of from Elias' original offences has since passed on (it had been many decades ago now!), Elias had been keeping in contact with people from the western area. By finding Elias, the police had also been able to arrest an organization that had been plotting to terrorize the North Pole, no doubt this would have been something Elias would involve himself in.

The group and Elias were all arrested and locked up in Coalsach while Elle and her staff had their tight security restrictions lifted at last. Elle had never been so happy than when she was reunited with her family; Eldon and Avery had missed her dearly.

That was indeed the last of Elias. Due to Krampus' pursuit of him getting everyone else caught, he was a very popular prisoner until eventually the bitter criminals started a brawl that would see Elias mutilated, crushed and then finally thrown about until there was nothing conscious left of him. Surprisingly, Elle attended the service held for Elias. She was one of the few there and they all seemed to be thinking the same thing; whatever happened to shape Elias into the criminal he became?

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